Kung Fu Documentaries and Their Discontents
Given that many of the readers of Kung Fu Tea come to this blog to read about the history or development of traditional fighting systems, I am willing to bet that each and every one of us has...
View ArticleMartial Arts as Politics: The Act of Seeing
Look at Me! I took a break from the kicking drill just as an insistent, irritated, voice rang out. “Coach, look at me! Look at me! LOOK AT ME! Hey Coach. COACH! Look at me!” Of course it......
View ArticleLives of Chinese Martial Artists (4): Sun Lutang and the Invention of the...
I am currently working on a paper that has me thinking about Sun Lutang again. To my mind he has always been one of the quintessential pioneers of the modern Chinese martial arts. So here is Part One...
View ArticleThrough a Lens Darkly (62): Chan Bing’s Choy Li Fut Students, 1967
Unfolding a Story When the opportunity presents itself I try to collect vintage photographs, postcards, illustrations and other ephemera touching on the martial arts. As someone who writes and...
View ArticleChinese Martial Arts in the News: October 28th, 2019: Bruce Lee, Taijiquan...
It has been too long since our last news update. Halloween is just around the corner, and now is the perfect time to get caught up on recent events! For new readers, this is a semi-regular feature...
View ArticleRediscovering China’s Flails
Reclaiming Bruce When is a nunchuck, perhaps the most iconic weapon to emerge from Okinawan karate, not a nunchuck? When it is being held by Bruce Lee. At least that is what the discussion in my...
View ArticleSometimes a Cigar is Just a Lightsaber: Fetishism and Material Culture in...
“The lightsaber has become an important touchstone, both within the films and within our culture…They serve as a source of identification and identity. They are the ultimate commodity: a nonexistent...
View ArticleAre the Chinese Martial Arts Fake?
Given that this essay is being hosted on a blog mostly read by practitioners of the TCMA, I doubt that the question posed by the title will generate a great deal of enthusiasm. I suspect that most...
View ArticleLives of Chinese Martial Artists (9): Woman Ding Number Seven: Founder of the...
Introduction: Gender and the History of the Chinese Martial Arts Women are a challenging subject in Chinese martial studies. One the one hand traditions about female boxers, nuns, bandits and heroes...
View ArticleChinese Martial Arts, Religion and Spirituality: A Guide for the Perplexed
Can the confused lead others to clarity? Perhaps the title of this essay risks overselling the contents as I can think of no subject within the field more demanding of nuance, yet less likely to...
View ArticleSpirituality in the Traditional Martial Arts – Between History and Theory
“There is a problem with the study of martial arts similar to that identified by Markus Davidson in the case of “spiritual studies”: many of the scholars involved in the topic are themselves...
View ArticleThe Immigrant Experience: Asian Martial Arts in the United States and Canada,...
***Happy Thanksgiving! This is a day when we commemorate the initial act of European immigration to North America. From that point onward the flow of people and ideas across our borders has never...
View ArticleResearch Note: When Martial Arts Divided Us
Introduction It seems to be taken as an article of faith in much of the popular writing on the martial arts that these hand combat systems provide not only an avenue for self-actualization, but also...
View Article2019 Christmas Shopping List: Martial Arts Equipment and Long Reads to get...
Its That Time of Year Again! Welcome to Kung Fu Tea’s eighth annual holiday shopping list! These are some of my favorite posts to pull together. They also serve as a reminder to make time for...
View ArticleThe Transformation of Chinese Martial Arts During the Song Dynasty
Introduction I have always wondered about the Song period (960-1279) and its connection to the modern Chinese martial arts (let’s say 1850 to the present). One could be forgiven for placing the...
View ArticleThrough a Lens Darkly (47): The Sword Shops of Beijing’s Bow and Arrow Street
***I am currently preparing for a demonstration and tournament which I will be hosting on Friday. As such, we are turning to the archives for today's post. This essay offers readers a unique look at...
View ArticleFailed Transformations: Peloton, Master Ken and Traditional Martial Arts
Fitness and Agency Rose clippers are a key symbol within Judkins family folklore. When I was about ten my mother bought my father, who does not garden, a set of rose clippers. These have lived,...
View ArticleStar Wars: An American Martial Arts Film Franchise?
***Like many of you I am spending the evening watching the latest installment in the Star Wars franchise (and therefore not blogging). So it seems only fitting to dip into the archives and take...
View ArticleSeason’s Greetings
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all of Kung Fu Tea’s readers! Thanks so much for your support and feedback over the last eight years. I think that Santa left me one or two martial arts...
View ArticleBrazilian Jiu-Jitsu and the Anti-Witch: Martial Arts as Therapy
D. S. Farrer. 2019. “Brazilian jiu-jitsu is therapy: Shifting subjectivities on Guam.” ETNOGRAFIA E RICERCA QUALITATIVA (ERQ). No. 3. 407-428. Introduction Donn F. Draeger’s made no secret of his...
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